With the advent of infectious diseases which are rampant in our society today, particularly Acquired Immunization Deficiency Syndrome (commonly referred to as "AIDS"), many patients simply do not consult their doctor or dentist for fear of contracting the deadly AIDS virus, especially in view of the prognosis that AIDS will reach epidemic proportions in the future. As a result, doctors and dentists have become more vigilant in adhering to precautionary sanitation measures. Dentists as well as dental hygienists, for example, have widely adopted the practice of using a pair of disposable plastic gloves for each patient, so that any saliva, blood or tissue particles that may conceivably carry the deadly AIDS virus bacteria will not be inadvertently transferred from one patient to another. These protective disposable gloves are in addition to washing the hands.
Nevertheless, a dentist frequently manipulates the light during the examination and treatment of a patient; and any saliva, blood or tissue particles picked up on the plastic gloves may be inadvertently transferred to the handle of the light, which unlike the dental instruments, is neither protected nor sanitized from patient to patient.